The present invention relates to a light emitting device used for, for example, an automotive headlight.
In recent years, an automotive headlight which employs white-color LEDs has been in practical use. The headlight which employs white-color LEDs is expected to become more widespread in the future because of the advantages of its being small in size, weight and energy consumption. The automotive headlight is required to provide the brightest region called a hot zone in its light distribution pattern. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-169189 (JP'189) discloses an automotive light emitting device in which a large-size LED chip for providing the hot zone is arranged at the central portion of a substrate.
However, in the light emitting device disclosed in JP'189, circuitry controls the brightness of a plurality of light emitting elements. Therefore, a complicated control system may be required in order to obtain a desired light distribution pattern.